Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1887-01-06

Of the States aud the citizens 0f the States
In the Unionr lie then speaks sc the Enah-
ney In which fugitive Slaves In disl0yal
States should he treated, and continues
@Under these circumstances, II seems quite
clear that substantial rights oflcyal mas
tiers viii be best protected by receiving their
fngifives - wei q Eugitiyes Of disloyal
masters into the service ofthe United states
and employing them under such org4niza-
tons and in such occupations a. circsEn
stances may suggest or require. Upon the
return OF peace, Congress GoEbtlessly viii
properly provide for ali the persons thus r.
ceived into the service Of the Union and for
just compensation q Goyai EsaStersr Mr.. Cam
eron, in October succeeding, gave similar
instructions to Gen. Sherman in command
Of an expeditionto the South. In Nov, 1861.
Gen. Blk proclaimed TO the people Of the
Eastern Shore Of Va that il was not the in
tention Of the government 10 invade either
their rights Of person or property" These
proceedings were, | confess, calculated 10
quiet the fears OF our people IN regard 20 their
rights. They left the doubling opponents
of the administration nothing to contend
for but peace and restoration Of the Union
by q fair aud acceptable compromise ON the
points of dispute between the parties. They
deploTe and mnst still deplore the conse-
quences oftheir failure 81 bring about re-
suit 50 desirable. Soiost 10 cool reflection and
common sense were the lso calledl Union
men, that if citizen advocated peace he
was denounced IS . traitor. The admins
tration and its supporters appear TO have
ignored entirely the definition OF treason
and 10 have substituted Tor II the indefinite
crime of disloyalty, and under it many an
honest patriot has suffered from cruel
tyranny.
As under the Constitution our slaves
could not be conliscaied, there was
but one way in which they could be taken
by the government, and that was under the
9th amendment, which allowed private
property TO be taken for public use with
Just compensation If not taken and held
under the above clause, should like To be
informed by what law or power the Uni
ted States deprived Us of this property p
and wherefore the amount ut which it was
valued by the government is withheld
from us?
Some persons may suppose our clam is rem
dered null and void by the l4th amendment,
the 4th Sec. of which reads thus: Neither
the United States nor any State shall as
sumo to pay any debt or obligation incur
red in aid ofinsurrectiOn or rebellion against
the United States, or any claim for the loss
va EGAAfAtAIdttt1u u any sAdfGs buA III shIn
debts, obligations and claims shall I've held
illegal and void" This was not intended
and cannot by any fair construction apply
to the claims OF slave owners of Maryland
Ii is incredible that the men who voted for
the amendment OF the Constitution offered
by Mr.. Seward and passed by two-thirds
of both branches Of Congress and the reso-
luton offered by Mr.. Sherman, before re-
fcrred to, could have intended TO deprive
us of the just claim the government owed
as by this clause of the 14th amendment
If they had intended 10 apply this To Ma
ryland and Delaware, the only two slave
States in the Union. they would surely have
been more specific, and either mention
them by name or have boldly used Ian
guage that would show clearly that they
did not intend TO compensate for our prt-
Cate property which they had taken for pub
lie use. We should have then concluded
that our parental government intended 10
deprive us Of our just and Cons,itutionally
established rights. But such is not the Ian
guage used. The words of the clause and
the circumstances surrounding would ex-
ciude such q construction, "Noclanl tor The
!pSs or emancipation of any slave Is the Ian
guage used. Our slavas were not lost. They
were tlt,a by the officers of the govern
ment. 4 slave or other property could not
properly be said to be list for which there
was price or compensation due, as was
the case previously to the adoption ~ the
I4th amendment II Prt. wa- drU fora
slave, the StIee cannot be considered as last
/ The words used are the loss Of any slave"
Did the former slave owner lose his slave
No, the government took the property for
fair price The word iDss is not a techni-
cal word, nor should it be construed in any
technical sense. The construction of Il Con-
stitutiohai provision say tie CoG,tsl mast
I've according 10 the general use oiThc word.
The word loss in common parlance means
something that cannot be found or Is de-
stroyed. Instead of being lost we knew well
where they Were and that they were in the
possession of the United States, possession
which we could not deprive them of ny
force without being rebels, or by law be-
fore the Courts because the possession of
the Government under the clause referred
to must be considered legal. The Courts
could MOI presume tnat thI government
took them in any other manner than ac-
cording 10 law when there was law UNI
der which they could take them but the
Courts would no doubt also decide that
the Government should pay for them.
Neither does the word "cmancipatc" apply
10 our State. The Constitution Of Mary
/ land which abolished slavery was adopted
| in the fall of 1864 At which time a slave
anywhere in Maryland, except in the camps
of the Government, was curiosity. To
the vast detriment Of our agricultural in
/ tcrest they had been taken by the Govern
ment for public use and 81 course emanci-
pated, if al all, by their new masters.
Therefore, by the very words oi the clause
referred 10, the rights or claims Of citizens
Of Maryland cannot by fair construction be
denied and il surely was not intended that
they should be by the honorable men who
were, IS hare shown, 50 strongly commit
ted 20 the preservation Of their rights.
This question together with its incidents
has ceased 10 be considered party ques-
ton but one of Justice and. in many cases,
II mercy, and have no doubt that the
men, If alive, who have committed them
selves as before stated will come forth and
redeem their word and promise in our be-
half We can cali on Hon. simal. UarIe-
ron whose orders as Secretary Of War !
have before quoted, and we cannot fail 10
draw encouragement from the resolution
offered by Hon. John Sherman and passed
unanimously by the House Of Representa-
tiveS, which | have before inserted To
this | will add an extract from a speech in
Congress delivered by him in 1862. Con-
sidering the high standing and influence OF
Mr.. Sherman, can refer 10 nothing 50
enlivening to our hopes. Mr.. sherman
said Il have no doubt that ii is within
the Constitutional power Of Congress in
raising armies 10 enroll whites and blacks.
free and slaves. And il Is equally clear
that toRgTvS- may, when military service
Is required, deprive the master If the SER
vices Of his slave. But this right is meas
ured by the military necessity and when
exercised against loyal citizen should be
accnmnanied by fi4n flnaIAa aNlfish" With